Hawks to face Dallas Stars

The Hawks head out for a four game road trip. Their first stop will be in big D for a Saturday night showdown with the Stars. The Dallas Stars are all but out of the playoff hunt but are mathematically still in it. The points definitely mean more for the Blackhawks who have the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators in their sights.

The Hawks only trail the division leading Blues by four points and trail the Predators by two points with a game in hand so the Blackhawks have plenty of incentive to garner more points. The Hawks have been on a tare lately with a 8-1-1 record in the last ten games.

At Hawks practice today coach Quenneville said Corey Crawford will be back in the net and Kris Versteeg will be back in the line-up after being a healthy scratch in New York. Look for the lines and defensive pairings to be the same.

The Stars are coming in with a 6-3-1 record their last ten games. Dallas was waylaid with an injury to Tyler Seguin who is now back in the line-up but it impacted their hopes for a playoff spot. Look for the Stars to try and play spoiler in their final meeting of the year with the Blackhawks.

The Hawks and Stars opened their seasons against each other and the have gone in vastly different directions since then. The Hawks lead the series 3-1 coming into this game. The Hawks even though they are missing Patrick Kane, who skated today with the team in practice, have found their team game and everyone has stepped up.

As long as the Hawks keep playing that solid team game they should be able to handle Dallas even with Seguin in the line-up. The Stars want to play a fast uptempo game, as long as the Hawks play a solid defensive positional game they should be good as Corey Crawford has been lights out.

Who to look out for:

The Dallas Sars leading point getters are the usual young guns, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza. All of which can easily put the puck in the back of any net.

For the Hawks now missing Patrick Kane, the scoring has been picked up by the entire line of Jonathan Toews with Brandon Saad and Marian Hossa. Look for this line to be heavily defended so the Vermette line may get some more chances.

INJURY REPORT

Chicago Blackhawks

Patrick Kane - is on LTIR from broken clavicle surgery

Dallas Stars

Trevor Daley – Knee injury out til late March early April

Rick Peverley – out indefinitely with heart issues

Travis Moen – Upper body injury day to day. Skated with team but not ready to return yet